Once when I was in DC I read that the ugliest statue in town was called the Cogswell Statue and was built by the members of the Cogswell society. Apparently they were a bunch of drunks during Prohibition who began each meeting with the cheer “To temperance; I’ll drink to that!”. I like that notion but I have been unsuccessful in finding any info on the web or elsewhere about the statue or the society. Please tell me more.
“It’s a big enough umbrella, but its always me getting wet”
The statue is in honor of Mr. Cogswell, president and owner of Cogswell Cogs, the main competetition of Mr. Spacely and his Spacely’s Sprockets company. It is common knowledge that Mr. Cogswell was a notorious closet drunk, and was exposed by George Jetson and Astro. Thus, he has a statue in DC in his honor.
Jeremy…
Nobody ever calls me after they’ve done something smart.
A little research with a search engine turned up the following URL about the Cogswell statue:
http://www.cityspin.com/washington_dc/celeb/russell4.htm
Very cool…any chance of a photo?
Anybody else know about any particularly hideous public statuary or monument? These are kinda a hobby with me.
F’rinstance: the Merchant Marine memorial down in the Battery on the southern tip of Manhattan. Three guys on an inclined plane which is supposed to represent a sinking ship…one has his hands cupped about his mouth, hollering into a gale. Another is extending his arm down toward a grasping hand that is reaching up from the dark waters of New York Bay.
When the tide is in, this is spooky as hell…the hand just barely visible beneath the water, occasionally popping above the surface when the waves are choppy.
When the tide’s out, it’s just silly. The arm goes on for about six feet, leading one to assume that it’s Plastic Man who’s in danger down there.
Uke
Here’s one! In downtown Baltimore, Inner Harbor area, on the grounds of the World Trade Center Building: There is a pile of scrap metal which includes a propeller from a ship’s hull and an “A” frame for no apparent purpose. The junk metal is supposed to be art, I guess. Or, it keeps away the sea nymphs and sirens??? Who knows!
$5 or best offer takes it away!
If you visit the National Aquarium, walk towards Pratt Street. Look around the Northeast corner of the grounds upon which the World Trade Center Building stands.
It’s an eyesore to the beauty of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area.
Also, in the NW suburbs of Baltimore, there is a granite monolith which stood with no apparent purpose for years. Finally, the town of Pikesville spent the money to hire a chisler, I guess, to carve it - if you can call it that! The top was lopped of haphazardly, and now the top is a skewed semi-circle. The name “Pikesville” kinda stands behind the granite monolith.
Any way else to waste municipal funds?
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy - Hawkeye 4077th
Maybe this explains why there’s a statue of Spacely in Moscow. . . .
Ok, I’m wondering why no one has brought up the hideous stuff at the shopping center on Cermak (I think - I ain’t from around there) in beautiful Berwyn, Illinois? It’s got to take the cake for wierdness.
No, no, abstract sculpture doesn’t count…that’s too easy. It ALL looks weird if you’re not pre-disposed to liking it.
Bizarre REPRESENTATIONAL sculpture (or statuary) only!
Somewhere in Texas, there is man with a collection of Cadillacs standing vertical!
If interested, I can try to find out where exactly from a friend of mine.
I think this has appeared in a TV commercial.
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy - Hawkeye 4077th
In Sacramento, CA ther is a metal horse with glowing red eyes. I was scared to death to pass by it as a little kid and it still gives me the willies.
Ukulele Ike asked Very cool…any chance of a photo?
There is a photograph at Temperance Fountain. The fountain doesn’t look too bad too me, but the building behind it is pretty spooky.
Thanks for the link Wendell. In fact I think that’s the exact article I read in one of those “Welcome to” books in my hotel room. I wonder if the Cogswellians are still around and if they’re taking applications for membership?